Herbert Alonzo "Lon" McCallister Jr. (April 17, 1923 â€" June 11,
2005) was an American actor. According to one obituary, he was best
known for "playing gentle, boyish young men from the country." Another
said he "had an ingenuous appeal that made him a favourite of family
audiences, and was particularly at home in outdoor settings featuring
dogs and horses. Ultimately his perennial boyishness and slight
stature became a handicap for more mature roles."Born in Los Angeles,
Lon McCallister was the son of a real estate broker. He attended
Marken Professional School, which trained children for show-business
careers and began appearing in movies at the age of 13. He had
uncredited appearances in Let's Sing Again (1936) and Romeo and Juliet
(1936), directed by George Cukor who, gave McAllister a large close
up, and became a friend. He was uncredited in Stella Dallas (1937),
Souls at Sea (1937), Make a Wish (1937), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(1938), Judge Hardy's Children (1938), Lord Jeff (1938), That Certain
Age (1938), Little Tough Guys in Society (1939), The Spirit of Culver
(1939), Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), Babes in Arms (1939), First
Love (1939), and Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
(1939).McCallister could also be glimpsed in Susan and God (1940),
Henry Aldrich for President (1941), Dangerously They Live (1941),
Always in My Heart (1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Spy Ship
(1942), Night in New Orleans (1942), That Other Woman (1942),
Gentleman Jim (1942), Quiet Please: Murder (1942), Over My Dead Body
(1942), The Hard Way (1943), and The Meanest Man in the World (1943).
Columnist Hedda Hopper called him "the cutest boy the movies have
hauled up out of obscurity since Mickey Rooney."
2005) was an American actor. According to one obituary, he was best
known for "playing gentle, boyish young men from the country." Another
said he "had an ingenuous appeal that made him a favourite of family
audiences, and was particularly at home in outdoor settings featuring
dogs and horses. Ultimately his perennial boyishness and slight
stature became a handicap for more mature roles."Born in Los Angeles,
Lon McCallister was the son of a real estate broker. He attended
Marken Professional School, which trained children for show-business
careers and began appearing in movies at the age of 13. He had
uncredited appearances in Let's Sing Again (1936) and Romeo and Juliet
(1936), directed by George Cukor who, gave McAllister a large close
up, and became a friend. He was uncredited in Stella Dallas (1937),
Souls at Sea (1937), Make a Wish (1937), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(1938), Judge Hardy's Children (1938), Lord Jeff (1938), That Certain
Age (1938), Little Tough Guys in Society (1939), The Spirit of Culver
(1939), Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), Babes in Arms (1939), First
Love (1939), and Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
(1939).McCallister could also be glimpsed in Susan and God (1940),
Henry Aldrich for President (1941), Dangerously They Live (1941),
Always in My Heart (1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Spy Ship
(1942), Night in New Orleans (1942), That Other Woman (1942),
Gentleman Jim (1942), Quiet Please: Murder (1942), Over My Dead Body
(1942), The Hard Way (1943), and The Meanest Man in the World (1943).
Columnist Hedda Hopper called him "the cutest boy the movies have
hauled up out of obscurity since Mickey Rooney."
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